Schools Don't Get the Money; Voters Reject Referendum

Voters chose to not restore $765,301 to the school department's budget in Tuesday's special election. Fifty-seven percent of Tuesday's voters rejected the effort to give the schools more money.

The final tally of votes was 2,198 for Option 1 (to leave the budget alone) and 1,690 for Option 2 (to increase the budget).

Option 1 read, "1. The Portsmouth Town Council appropriation for the School Department Budget shall remain unchanged in the amount of $35,527,720.00."

Option 2 read as follows, "The Portsmouth Town Council appropriation for the School Department Budget shall be increased by $765,301.00 to a total appropriation of $36,293,021.00."

A copy of the special election ballot is attached at right.

Voters turned out in large numbers to maintain property taxes at current rates and keep the school budget unchanged.

According to Madeleine Pencak, registrar of voters, the voter turnout was 29 percent. The voter turnout at the September primary was 14 percent.

"The voters absolutely have spoken," said Larry Fitzmorris, president of the Portsmouth Concerned Citizens (PCC). "It (the result) was not close. The idea of raising taxes in the worst recession this country has seen was not an option."

If approved, the referendum would have authorized a total school budget of about $36.3 million. The referendum would have also resulted in an increase in taxes of about 20 cents per thousand dollars of assessed value, or an additional tax hike of $71.44 annually for a $350,000 home.

The push for the referendum was mainly led by the independent group, Save Our Schools (SOS).

Looks of disappointment were expressed by members of the SOS group at Town Hall Tuesday evening. 

"I'm sad, but I'm not shocked," said Dave Croston, founder of the SOS. "I think it was of a margin we have to take notice and it would be my hope that people take note of the facts and make sure that during the General Election, people who put out facts that were not accurate, are held accountable." 

"Portsmouth's educational future is at risk right now. It will take years to recover from this short amount of money."

"I think people were misinformed," said Rep. Amy Rice.

Led by School Committee candidate Croston, SOS began back in early August advocating for a referendum after the Town Council adopted its budget.

The SOS held a referendum rally, which was met by supporters and protesters at the corner of Turnpike Avenue and East Main Road. 

SOS also held Sign & Drive campaigns at the transfer station and Portsmouth High School. The volunteers also canvassed neighborhoods and even Sandy Point Beach for signatures.

After weeks of hard work, the SOS were able to collect more than enough signatures (over 2,000 names) required for a special election. The cost to hold a special election, including fees for mailings and ballots, ranged between $16,000 to $20,000, according to Pencak.

There was also opposition to the referendum. The PCC blanketed the town this past week with signs asking for residents to vote "no" on the special election ballot.

"The PCC worked very hard on this," Fitzmorris said. "Both sides worked hard ... We salute the people who went out and gathered signatures for this. We salute them, we just didn't agree with them. I think the reality was that the people weren't ready for this."

The following are the results on how each precinct voted (Yes to increase the budget; No to leave it alone).

Precinct 2701 (Prudence Island Fire Station) — No: 51; Yes: 6

Precincts 2702 and 2703 (Portsmouth Multi Purpose Senior Center, 110 Bristol Ferry Road) — No: 373; Yes: 270

Precincts 2704 and 2705 (Common Fence Point Community Hall, 933 Anthony Road) — No: 352; Yes: 197

Precincts 2706, 2707 and 2708 (Portsmouth Town Hall, 2200 East Main Road) — No: 604; Yes: 514

Precincts 2709, 2710 and 2712 (Aquidneck Island Christian Academy, 321 East Main Road) — No: 818; Yes: 703